Maude

4 Ratings:
2.3

A television show

Sitcoms come and go. And then there's "Maude," the groundbreaking Norman Lear comedy. The show revolves around Maude Findlay, a very outspoken middle-class woman who wears her liberal politics on her sleeve and shares her home in suburban … see full wiki

Right on Maude! The wit, wisdom and foibles of one Maude Findlay.

Maude is a product of the seventies. Maude Findlay (Beatrice Arthur) is a liberated middle aged woman who's on her fourth marriage to a small business owner Walter (Bill Macy). The couple live wither their adult daughter Carol (Adrienne Barbeau) and her son Phillip. Their next door neighbor is Walter's best friend Arthur, a doctor who's conservative views often clash with Maude's liberal ideals. The series was a spin-off of the successful All in the Family (Maude is Edith's cousin) and it lasted for several seasons. Maude had it's own spin off Good Times albeit a re-tooled retcon version featuring Maude's former housekeeper Florida). The character of Maude was influenced by Norman Lear's then wife.

The series started out as a polar opposite of All in the Family but as it moved from politics the show focused more on family and personal relationships. Walter's drinking problem, the failure of his business and subsequent mental breakdown along with Maude's limousine liberal views were the main focal point of the show. Rue McClanahan was added at the end of the first season (her character Vivian married Arthur) and became part of the main cast. After the fourth season, viewers left the show in droves (all of Norman Lear's productions suffered as viewers grew tired of social political humor and wanted more family friendly and silly mundane humor). Beatrice Arthur grew tired of her character and wanted to leave. The writers changed the series to accommodate her but she and the audience left after the sixth season.

Looking back, the show has aged well for the most part. I still find the first four seasons to be entertaining. The fifth and sixth are real noticeable in the lack of good writing and the unmotivated performances from the cast. You can catch episodes of Maude on Antenna TV and the first season is available on DVD,